Southern California -- this just in

Ex-DreamWorks animator pleads no contest to killing dog with hammer

October 5, 2012 | 2:31
pm

A Pasadena man on trial for beating a neighbor’s dog to death with a
hammer pleaded no contest to the charge in the middle of trial on
Friday, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

Young
Song, 42, a former animator DreamWorks Animation, pleaded
no contest to a felony count of cruelty to an animal and a misdemeanor theft charge
after jurors saw a videotape of the April 2011 incident, the Glendale News-Press reported.

Prosecutors
said Song entered a neighbor’s yard and shot the muzzled German
shepherd with a pellet gun before returning to beat the animal with a
hammer and disposing of its remains.

Pasadena Superior Court Judge Darrell Mavis sentenced Song to year in jail, three years of probation and barred him from owning or caring for any animal for 10 years, according to prosecutors.

[Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said Song still worked at Dreamworks.]